The Clarisonic Brush and Other Exfoliation Debates—Where Do You Stand?
Because I rarely wash my face, let alone exfoliate it, I did have a moment’s pause when my very wonderful mother-in-law (and I’m not just saying that!) offered me a Clarisonic Mia brush for Christmas. She’d thought this one through, not only having my husband check in with Siobhan, but also offering the gift with a clear message: You can exchange this for anything you want at Nordstrom’s. Easy. But as I stared at the pretty peachy brush, marketed for sensitive skin, I just couldn’t quite keep my paws off of it.
I’ve been hearing about the Clarisonic for years now, and while I’m deeply wary of over-exfoliation, or any exfoliation—living in fear of sacrificing natural oils and that protective top layer of skin cells that seals moisture in and keeps bad stuff out—I just didn’t think I could pass up the chance at trying the thing. Even as the discount rack at Nordstrom’s called my name.
And here’s what: The thing feels pretty special, and weirdly not like it’s actually exfoliating so much—though I’m fairly sure it is, right?—as creating circulation that leaves your skin aglow. The brush itself is super soft and it pulses with a very gentle vibration that actually tickles. When I run it over my nose I dissolve into laughter.
You can tell I’ve been pretty sold on it, though let’s be clear: I’ve used it all of three times since January, and when I do use it it’s with the One Love Skin Savior I have or whatever friendly oil is laying around the bathroom, and not the toxic foaming crap it came with.
But just as I was about to write an all-glowing post, beloved fashion blogger Garance Dore warned about it on her site. Eeks!
See, Dore has this dermatologist, Dr. Marie-Catherine Planté, who sounds very French and very much after our own hearts: In the past she’s told GD not to even use water when she cleanses her face. A rule I generally ascribe to. So when Dore asked this derm about the Clarisonic brush, because she too had heard the praise, the verdict was that it’s essentially a skin torture device, for reasons sited above about the evils of exfoliation. Oh non.
And yet, I’m not entirely convinced! I guess what I’m now wondering is, should we never exfoliate? Not even a little bit? Surely our ancestors reached for a little sand now and again and rubbed their faces down just for the feel of it. (I love operating on the likely-false assumption that our ancestors must have known more than us about these things.)
I for one, intend to continue using my buzzy brush very moderately, because it just feels so damn good (and the glow!). What about you? Have you tried the thing? Where do you stand on exfoliation?
Oh, and P.S. Vacations are indeed amazing. And there’s not a chance in heck I’ll be using the Clarisonic anytime soon as I try to maintain another skin no-no: my tan!
Pretty, sandy girl via
I bought a Mia the beginning of this year and love it. I have had horrible acne the majority of my life and always went to a derm for it. After years of taking antibiotics, accutane twice and lots of skin care products “recommended” by the dermatologist (I hate even admitting this because I cant believe I never questioned what doctors were prescribing me until last year). Finally last year I quit taking the meds as well as the prescription topical stuff because I became more aware of what I was putting in and on my body. Even after getting off everything my skin pretty much stayed the same so I started trying different things. I went to origins to look around and walked away with a Mia and the Dr. Andrew Weil for origins face line (cleanser, serum, and moisturizer). I use my Mia twice a day and it doesn’t dry me out at all, I think the reason it doesn’t though is due to the skin care products I am using with it. I still break out quite a bit, but my breakouts dont last nearly as long as when I was using the dermatologist recommended products and overall I do think my skin looks better (so does my husband). I noticed that last week when I was on vacation and didnt have my Mia with me that my skin has more blackheads than it did before I went out of town. Overall I think it is a good product but I also think it depends on what you are using with the Mia as well as the type of skin you have. I dont feel like it is harsh on my skin so I do use it twice a day even though many people have said they use it more moderately. Maybe I will try just at night to see if that makes a difference….
I see a lot more over-exfoliating than under-exfoliating in poor quality skin. The feeling that brush gives you is darn near addictive but it seems to thin, wear down and sensitize the skin over time in some.
I use my Mia religiously and am completely in love with it. I think it really depends on your skin type, no? I have had extremely oily skin my whole life and was on roaccutane in my twenties. For the most part, after I came off roaccutane, my skin was good but always oily and generally would still break out depending on stress, lack of sleep, hormones etc… About a year ago I bought the Mia and started using it every night. I don’t wash my face in the morning but at night I use it with my other religiously used product- Eve Lom cleanser. Afterwards I slather my face with One Love Saviour Balm. I can’t even tell you how amazing the change to my skin has been. I don’t think I have had a single break out in a year. My skin literally glows! People comment all the time on how I have such amazing skin and I really do thank my Mia for that. I don’t ever feel like I am exfoliating my face with it. It doesn’t feel harsh and my skin has always re-acted terribly to granule exfoliators. This just feels completely different. I don’t think I could ever go back now.
i LOVE my clarisonic. in fact, i bought one for my pre-teen daughter. i use the delicate brush and only at night. my skin looks great and is so clear. what i like about it is how clean my face feels afterward. it certainly seems to be helping my daughter, too, because breakouts have just begun. i’ve got her on an all-natural skincare routine, and the all-natural products don’t dry up those blemishes that quickly.
I love my clarisonic! I have rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis,and it just makes my skin feel and look so much better! If I go more then a few days without using it I can definitely notice a (bad) difference..
I studied esthetics and have been an esthetician for nine years. I have had my fair share of skin care issues, I have visited a derm, I have tried clean and dirty products and skin care routines alike.
At the end of the day, our skin naturally desqimates (sheds it’s layers)… depending on the natural health inside and out of the individual (and their immune system) there is a good chance some people’s natural desqemation process could be much slower than others or their desquemation could be right up to speed.
So if the desire is to have glowing skin and you are not up to / are in the process of obtaining that healthy natural shedding / exfoliating via eating clean (just yet) and you are aware one of the keys to using a tool like clairsonic or the mia is the slight of one’s hand (i.e. how heavy handed are you?)….. why not? The brushes definitely can be more gentle than an untrained hand rubbing vigorously a granular scrub/rub on one’s face.
I don’t have a strong opinion on this one — but I recall being a bit taken aback when I read the post on Tammy Fender’s morning routine and she said she used one with her own epi-Peel (which is an exfoliating product) everyday in the shower. The combo of clarisonic brush AND grainy exfoliator AND frequency made my skin feel empathetically raw for a moment.
My sister bought me the clarisonic and I have mixed feelings on it. I have been using it on and off for about a year now…. Sometimes I think it works well when I have break outs and I want to speed up the process of drying something out and bringing it to the surface. However, I think as a regular face wash it eventually is too harsh for my skin and makes it itchy and kind of sting. My other dislike about this brush is that you have to buy new brush heads, which is just kind of ridiculous. I use the old ones on my body, which is nice. But anyway, I can see how using tho overtime can lead to damaging your skin. (FYI: I have roseaca and dry skin with occasional acne breakouts)
I have the clarisonic mia and it’s ok – my skin needs exfoliation though because I have quite a bit of very fine/invisible hair on my face which tends to become ingrown for whatever reason — I need to exfoliate to prevent that.
However, the clarisonic does pretty much exactly the same thing for me as the microfiber cloths I used to use did so I feel like it’s a bit of a waste of money. I haven’t seen any difference in my skin since I started using it – it’s just replaced the my microfiber cloths.
The clarisonic mia made me break out like crazy. Granted, I was using it twice a day which I’m sure is too much for sensitive skin. I returned it because the cost of keeping the clarisonic to only use it twice a week just doesn’t make sense. You can get the same exfoliation by using a washcloth and you don’t have to have an extra thing to plug in the bathroom outlets.
Typically, my skin is very clear and I often get compliments on it. After I used the clarisonic Mia I had the WORST break out of my life. Tons of active acne that I didn’t want to pop, but had to or else I’d have whiteheads all over my face.
Apparently, this is a common problem. When I called to get the return authorization she tried to tell me that many people break out at first. My response was NO THANKS. Since I’ve stopped using it my skin has calmed down quite a bit and I don’t have any active acne. I do have lots of red marks from where the acne was which is a bummer.
Personally, I think we just need to stop generalizing about skin in general. Skin varies from woman to woman as much as height, weight or pregnancies.
I have severe psoriasis and my skin will not shed by itself so I’m planning on getting a Clarisonic soon. My esthetician, who’s a good friend of mine, uses one on me and it is so much gentler than when I try to scrub my plaques on my own. But then again, I can’t even use coconut oil, which is wonderful and natural, bc it compresses my skin and keeps it from shedding properly. Obviously this isn’t a problem most people have, so Clarisonics might be too harsh for other people.
I think we often are too quick to say that what works for us in a certain area, be it what foods are *THE* thing to eat, or what looks *THE* best, etc. and forget to take into account completely different circumstances.
Anyway, that’s my thoughts on it :)
When I got my Clarisonic, I was so pleased because my skin felt really clean. But after a few weeks I started getting bunches of white heads deep under the skin. I have a history of acne, but I am 60 years old and thought that that was all behind me, and my skin did look great before the Clarisonic. So, I’m going to limit my use to a couple of times a week, see if that helps.